All Or Nothing

What we like to describe as our one ‘show tune’, this piece was used in the final scene of a play by Ruth Berlau, Bertolt Brecht and others, called Days Of The Commune which appeared in 1949, The song however was written earlier – shortly after the Nazis rise to power in Germany. The melody is by Hanns Eisler, accused by Richard Nixon in 1947 of being the ‘Karl Marx of communism in the musical field’. Eisler reportedly replied that his interrogators were flattering him.

Lyrics

Who, oh slave, is going to free you?
Those who stand in darkness near you,
From the lowest depths shall hear you,
In the darkness they shall see you,
Other slaves are going to free you!

So it’s all or nothing!
None or everyone!
One cannot rescue any,
But many can rescue many!
For it’s all or nothing!
None or everyone!